Obituaries

Very good site if a tad maudlin on the life and times of British footballers of today and yesteryear:

http://cards.littleoak.com.au/rip_notices/rip_2010.html

 

Funnily enough speaking about Stoke who have been in the news recently Jimmy Greenhoff was and still is adored there. His younger brother Brian was a mainstay at Manchester United and has passed on at the far too early age of sixty.

The pair had a falling out and were never reconciled. Too late now.
http://www.guardian.co.uk/football/2013/may/23/brian-greenhoff

 

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Manchester City legend Bert Trautmann (1923-2013). An interesting and somewhat varied life. Most famous of course for unwittingly playing on in he 1956 FA Cup final between Manchester City and Birmingham City with a broken neck and rather fortunate not to have been killed or paralysed.

When Bert Trautmann arrived at Manchester City in 1949, 20,000 protested against his signing. By the time he left, he was lauded as the bravest man in British sport.
Bert Trautmann begins looking a little bored when the broken neck is mentioned. After spending almost an hour discussing Nazism, the horror of war, antisemitism and failed relationships with impressive and sometimes chilling candour, the former Manchester City goalkeeper's still bright-blue eyes finally start glazing over.

"I've explained it 1,636 times on this trip already," he says, smiling thinly, as the conversation shifts to the 1956 FA Cup final and the day he played the last 16 minutes of City's triumph over Birmingham with a fractured neck. "Wherever I go, people always ask about my neck."

It had been no surprise when the 86-year-old German's visit to Eastlands last week, to promote Catrine Clay's brilliant new biography Trautmann's Journey, began with City's club doctor bounding towards him clutching an anatomical model of a human's upper body.

"I still have pain if I make unexpected movements of my head," says the one-time Luftwaffe paratrooper and holder of the Iron Cross, who will be rooting for City from the Eastlands directors' box during this afternoon's latest rematch with Birmingham. "But I was very lucky: surgeons told me I could have died or been paralysed."

Instead, Trautmann, in infinitely better shape than most men a decade younger, was able to continue living what he acknowledges is an "extraordinary, sometimes mad" life to the full.

Many of its happiest moments arrived in later years when, employed by the German government on a third-world initiative, he lived in Burma, Tanzania, Liberia, Pakistan and Yemen. "Excellent times," he says. "I was teaching people how to be football coaches, but they all taught me a hell of a lot about life, about tolerance and thinking differently."

By then Trautmann had already completed an incredible odyssey that swept this one-time Hitler Youth prodigy into active wartime service in Russia and later France. "I volunteered when I was 17," he says. "People say 'why?', but when you are a young boy war seems like an adventure. Then, when you're involved in fighting it's very different, you see all the horrible things that happen, the death, the bodies, the scariness. You can't control yourself. Your whole body is shaking and you're making a mess in your pants."

Trautmann was one of only 90 members of his original 1,000-strong regiment still alive in 1945. Several fellow survivors were left badly maimed. "I kept nothing from the war," he says. "I don't have my Iron Cross any more."

Earlier, he had endured a childhood of brainwashing, experiencing years of indoctrination during racial biology and ideology lessons in which messages that Jews were responsible for wrecking Germany's economy, that Poles were an inferior people and Aryans the master race had been repeatedly rammed home.

"Growing up in Hitler's Germany, you had no mind of your own," he says. "You didn't think of the enemy as people at first. Then, when you began taking prisoners, you heard them cry for their mother and father. You said 'Oh'. When you met the enemy, he became a real person. The longer the war went on, you started having doubts. But Hitler's was a dictatorial regime and you couldn't say what you wanted. In the German army, you got your orders and you followed them. If you didn't, you were shot."

After he escaped from the Russians and then the French resistance, the British finally captured him properly. "When they got me [after he had hurdled a fence leaping straight into an ambush] the first thing they said was: 'Hello Fritz, fancy a cup of tea,'" recalls Trautmann.

It was the start of an unlikely love affair. "I feel British in my heart now," he says. "When people ask me about life, I say my education began when I got to England. I learnt about humanity, tolerance and forgiveness." Not to mention that Jews were human, too.

Trautmann was told of concentration camps and the Holocaust in an English PoW camp, but his first intimation that something had gone very wrong came when, fighting in Ukraine, he and a friend inadvertently stumbled across a massacre of Jews by SS officers in a forest. After being herded into trenches, they were systematically shot. Terrified, the pair escaped undetected and never spoke of the incident. Trautmann bows his head at the memory: "I was 18."

German PoWs were routinely shown a film about Belsen. "My first thought was: 'How can my countrymen do things like that?'" he says. "But Hitler's was an utter totalitarian regime."

Later, the then 22-year-old worked as a driver for Jewish officers on the camp. "They wanted to know what you thought about Nazis and the Jewish community," says Trautmann, who admits that "deep down" he then still viewed Jews as moneylenders and profiteers.

"Sometimes their questioning was quite nasty, your pride was hurt and I lost my temper." So much so that after one called him a "German pig" Trautmann punched him.

Subsequent driving service for another Jew, Sergeant Hermann Bloch, proved much happier. "I quickly came to see Bloch, and every other Jew, as human beings. At first I sometimes lost my temper with him, but, in time, I talked to him as if he was just another English soldier. I liked him."

He also enjoyed playing centre-half for PoW teams across north-west England, only being persuaded to move into goal after one day becoming embroiled in an outfield fight. A star was born and, with Trautmann declining repatriation to Germany, a stint at non-League St Helens prefaced a high-profile move to Manchester City.

Manchester boasted a sizeable Jewish community and 20,000 demonstrated against City's new signing before Dr Altmann, the communal Rabbi, appealed for the German player to be offered a chance, reminding everyone that an individual should not be punished for his country's sins.

"Thanks to Altmann, after a month it was all forgotten," says Trautmann. "Later, I went into the Jewish community and tried to explain things. I tried to give them an understanding of the situation for people in Germany in the 1930s and their bad circumstances. I asked if they had been in the same position, under a dictatorship, how they would have reacted? By talking like that, people began to understand."

Trautmann's personal world turned dark and unfathomable a month after the 1956 FA Cup final, when his six-year-old son John was run over and killed. Although his then wife Margaret bore him two more boys, she never recovered. "Margaret didn't get over John, she had no interest in life any more," says Trautmann, who, after an unhappy stint managing Stockport – where he was horrified to discover Coronation Street actors influenced the chairman – would eventually walk out on her and into that German government job. "When she died, it was of a broken heart."

Tall, blond and devastatingly handsome, Trautmann caused his fair share of emotional grief. After getting his first girlfriend, Marion, pregnant, he abandoned her and baby Freda shortly after the birth. "Marion didn't have an easy life. I left her with a PoW's ******* daughter and, although I gave her maintenance, it was very little. The most I ever earned at City was £35 a week," Trautmann admits. "But I was terrified of being trapped."

A decade ago, Freda traced him, they are now close and he has been re-introduced to Marion: "She told me, 'You did the right thing, I can't blame you'. Imagine having such generosity."

Always close to his mother, Trautmann is haunted by the repercussions of that post-war refusal to return to Bremen. "Mutti's relationship with my father wasn't so good and my decision to stay in the UK was another hardship," he says. "I think she died of a broken heart."

Such brutal honesty and acute self-awareness is rare, but he is an unusual man. If his private life – Trautmann is happily married to his third wife, Marlis, and living in a modest bungalow on the Spanish coast near Valencia – has not always been exemplary, he remains a peerless ambassador for international reconciliation.

"Travelling is the best education," says the holder of an OBE, awarded in recognition of unstinting work improving Anglo-German relations. "It teaches tolerance and understanding."

The importance of these cannot be underestimated. "We never, ever, want another world war," stresses the old Luftwaffe paratrooper. "It absolutely must not happen."

 

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Wolverhampton Wanderers legend Dave Wagstaffe 1943-2013.

http://www.birminghammail.co.uk/news/local-news/wolves-legend-dave-wagstaffe-dies-5670921

An extremely skilled winger who like our very own Stewart Scullion was a wing wizard at a time when wingers were not in vogue after the success of Ramsay's wingless wonders. Like the Vicarage Road faithful those at Molineux would want nothing more than to see him run at the opposition carrying the ball with him and terrifying the oppositions fullbacks.

It makes one wonder what a player like him would be worth now. He was an excellent crosser ,but also a fantastic accurate passer of the ball, on a par with Beckham which makes one also wonder why the paucity of such players nowadays. Wagstaffe himself never ever received a full cap for England which is mystifying given his quality.

[video=youtube;nsAo6dYOAp8]http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=nsAo6dYOAp8[/video]​

 

I am not that old zztop just in my early thirties , but I have read a lot of footballing history primarily England and European and South American and watched a fair bit of historical footage as well. A lot of it courtesy of ESPN Classic which is now defunct. As you go further and further back the footage gets increasingly rare to find so one has to rely more on word of mouth and written accounts of players. Players like Wagstaffe who I have seen only via youtube deserve a mention when they pass on even though they may have played for another club.

Certain wingers then could deliver the ball on a sixpence which is how he allegedly practiced with a handkerchief placed in different parts of the box. Good close control, great balance, vision and the ability to lift the ball with very little backlift and with disguise. Generally qualities which are found in all very good to great players.

I hope the thread though a little maudlin I suppose (anyones passing is rather sad) might prompt some to read a little bit more on footballing history. Of course Sky would like to pretend that football did not start until 1992 and everything before that meant nothing.

When we were first promoted after the playoff against Bolton we were told this was our very first time in the top flight......

 

Not just yet Phillippine....

That was a great try. Perhaps there should be a thread for all things rugby as I am sure some of us do like egg chasing.

Cliff Morgan (1930-2013)​

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From the Welsh RU website.

Cliff Morgan: Legend

One of Welsh rugby's golden greats, Cliff Morgan, has died at the age of 83. A legendary figure for Cardiff, Wales and the British & Irish Lions, he went on to forge a great career in broadcasting after his playing days were over. Born in Trebanog, in the Rhondda, on 7 April, 1930, the 5ft 7in tall Tonyrefail Grammar School product went on to become a giant figure in the world game and arguably the greatest outside half around.

He scored 38 tries in 202 appearances for Cardiff between 1949-1958 and helped them to beat the 1953 All Blacks and the 1957 Wallabies. He made the first of his 29 Welsh appearances against Ireland in 1951 and was an ever present in the 1952 Grand Slam side.

He helped Wales to share the Five Nations title in 1954 and 1955 and was captain in 1956 when they won the title outright, losing only to Ireland in Dublin. He played against South Africa for Wales in the 6-3 defeat in 1951 and then helped Wales beat the All Blacks two years later in the famous 13-8 victory at Cardiff Arms Park - still the last time Wales beat New Zealand.

Although his playing career came to an end at the tender age of just 28, Morgan continued to be involved in sport through his television and radio work with ITV and the BBC. He became Sports Organiser for BBC Wales in 1958 before becoming a hugely popular rugby commentator.

He was one of the original team captains on a 'Question of Sport', alongside boxer Henry Cooper, and rose to the positions of Head of BBC Radio Outside Broadcasts in 1974 and Head of Sport and Outside Broadcasts for BBC Television from 1976 to 1987.

He produced the BBC's flagship sports programmes 'Grandstand' and 'Sportsnight with Coleman', and also supervised coverage of events including football World Cups, Commonwealth and Olympic Games, royal weddings and other national ceremonial occasions. When his career in television came to an end, he returned to radio and was the voice of 'Sport on Four' through to 1998.

His courage on the field was matched in later life when he overcame a life-threatening stroke at the age of 42 and then battled against throat cancer, which forced him to have his larynx removed.

Losing his voice was the cruelest of fates for the man who brought the world one of the greatest pieces of rugby commentary in the 1973 game between the Barbarians and the All Blacks. His description of Gareth Edwards' try from that game has remained embedded in the minds of all who heard it.

"This is great stuff... Phil Bennett covering ..……chased by Alistair Scown... brilliant... Ooooh, that's brilliant! John Williams, Bryan Williams ...Pullin, John Dawes ...Great dummy! ...David, Tom David ...the half way line ...Brilliant by Quinnell! This is Gareth Edwards! ...A dramatic start! ...what a score! Oh that fellow Edwards!" (As posted by zztop)

That was the commentary and this was his wrap-up line after the replay: "If the greatest writer of the written word had written that story, nobody would have believed it. That really was something."

During the 1955 Lions tour to South Africa, when Morgan became a global star as the tourists shared the series 2-2 against the mighty Springboks, he became the choirmaster both on an off the field.

"We came to the decision that we were going to be a singing team. I was appointed choirmaster, with first call on the hotel piano, and every day for a week we practiced, English, Scottish and Irish songs in English, Welsh songs in Welsh and, in a four-part harmony, Sarie Marais in Afrikaans, which we thought would go down well with the people over there. We learned this parrot-fashion, and the words of the Welsh songs I wrote on a blackboard," wrote Morgan.

"Coming down the steps of the plane (on arrival in Johannesburg), we were amazed at the crowds who had waited so long to greet us. I turned round and said, 'OK lads, look at the people'. So we all came to a stop and sang practically our full repertoire from Sospan Fach to Sarie Marais, cheered on by the crowd. And that was the spirit of that trip, everybody together.

"Later that week the Rand Daily Mail carried a front page headline: 'This is the greatest team ever to visit South Africa'. And we hadn't even played a match!"

On the field he scored one of the greatest tries in Lions history as he steered his side to victory in the first Test. He then captained the Lions to victory in the third Test.

The honorary secretary on the 1955 tour was the Cardiff secretary, Danny Davies. In his history of Cardiff RFC, 'The Greatest', he summed up Morgan in this way: "Cliff Morgan was the stocky, cheeky, dazzling type of outside half, quite rubbery after tackles, an opportunist and a good kicker withal. Tutored by 'Ned' Gribble, the caustic and knowledgable sportsmaster at Tonyrefail, he eventually gained all the highest honours the Rugby game offered.

"He arrived at the peak of his form in South Africa in 1955, when I was honorary secretary to the touring team. The South Africans took him to their hearts and I remember one occasion when a South African daily cartoonist depicted a British Lions and South African fan arguing after a match. The South African was saying "You give us Cliff Morgan and we'll give you back Simonstown."

"Off the field he was the joker, the story teller (he could stretch them), strong singer and choirmaster, creating much enjoyment in which I happily shared."

In 1997 he was inducted into the International Rugby Hall of Fame, he was a member of the Welsh Sports Hall of Fame's 'Roll of Honour' and he was made OBE and CVO. Cliff Morgan was not only a great sportsman, but a great Welshman.

He lived with his second wife, Pat, on the Isle of Wight and the thoughts of the Welsh Rugby Union, and everyone connected with Welsh rugby, are with her and their family at this time.

Would have been an Oxford Blue as well but his family did not want him to as it were steer away from his mining background to the halls of academia so he remained at Cardiff University instead.

He is in action here in some Pathe archive footage of the then Five Nations. An outstanding fly half to rank alongside those other Welsh greats Barry John and Phil Bennett.

http://www.britishpathe.com/video/special-cardiff-wales-v-ireland/query/cliff+morgan

 

Djalma Santos - 1929-2013

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Everyone of a recent vintage is familiar with the sight of a yellow shirted blue shorted footballer running at full pelt down the flanks at World Cups. Cafu, Maicon , Leonardo, Josimar are some of the recent names to have graced that position with the Selecao providing cut and thrust down the flanks to avoid the often congested midfields of the modern game.

But the player who was the prototype for those who came after him and who elevated the position into one that youngsters strove to fill was Djalma Pereira Dias dos Santos or more simply as is the Brazilian wont Djalma Santos.

If one was to draw up a World XI of the twentieth century despite stiff competition from the likes of Maldini and Zanetti or perhaps a Breitner he would more than be likely be named first to that team. No wonder his skills merited election to three FIFA World Cup XI selections in 1954,1958 and 1962 and a total of 98 caps, when caps were not handed out like confetti but were hard earned.

Despite a defeat to the magnificent Magyars at the Battle of Berne which saw players fighting in the dressing rooms at the ****dorf Stadium his performances were such that he was elected to to the tournament XI. His cool nature and modesty was very much in evidence that day as tempers flared and arguments grew heated between the two teams , splitting up potential pugilists and calming his fellow players. He was again elected to the FIFA XI despite only playing in the final game of the 58 tournament, a 5-2 demolition of the hosts Sweden. Djalma wears the number 4 in this footage:

[video=youtube;-xOQmVZ6sgo]http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=-xOQmVZ6sgo[/video]​

His decisive contribution in the '62 tournament was to contribute to Vava scoring the deciding goal against the Czechoslovaks linking down the right with devastating effect a player more than the equal of Pele, and Messi's archetype Garrincha. Another almost inevitable honour followed , elected into the tournament XI once again. His last venture in England in 1966 was at the tail end of his time as a player when his powers were on the wane. Carlos Alberto the captain of the subsequently successful 1970 side, had been expected to take his position but was left out to the bemusement of most Brazilians but the coach Vicente Feola went for his experience.

Brazil were roughed up on the pitch by Hungary and Portugual leaving Pele and the pride of the Brazilians bruised and injured , swiftly followed by an embarrassing exit at the group stage. Accusations followed that the South American teams had been victims of an official conspiracy. For Santos it was clear that Father Time had caught up with him and he retired from the international scene blaming himself in part for the shambles he had witnessed and participated in.

He continued to play for Palmeiras and later Atlético Paranaense before finally retiring in 1970 and one final honour as the best defender of the Championship. Thereafter he had a short stint in youth coaching before fading into relative obscurity. Mention his name today and few will recognize it.

Unlike the Brazilian wingbacks of today Santos could defend. Despite his relative shortness he was a very good jumper and physically robust able to withstand challenges and knock opposition wingers off the ball. This at the time remained the primary role of the fullback but as usual South American rivalries promoted innovation and the selecao having to face the incomparable midfield of Argentina at the time and all too robust Uruguayans evolved to attack down the sides of the opposition to supplement the winger and provide overlaps.

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When needed Santos with his lightning pace was a formidable assister and again could actually cross with accuracy an art that many fullbacks of today seem to have lost. Not to mention his excellent dead ball delivery from corners and free kicks as well as penalties one of which he scored against the Magyars in that World Cup quarter final in Berne.

 

Gylmar dos Santos Neves - 1930-2013​

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Named after his parents Gilberto and Maria, Gilmar is unquestionably one of the greatest custodians the game has seen.

Known as Pele's goalkeeper due to him having played with the number 10 for both Brazil and Santos his feats of conceding less than a goal a game at international level in a career spanning sixteen years between 1953 and 1969 destroy the stereotype that Brazil was handicapped by poor goalkeepers until recent years.

A mild mannered player at a time when physical assault on the goalkeeper was seen as part of the game, Gilmar learnt from the likes of the great Amadeo Carizzo in Argentina and progenitors of total football to act not just within the area but act as an outfield player sweeping up behind the defence and being the basis for launching attacks. He was a solid foundation of the great Corinthian side of the mid fifties despite a less than inauspicious debt a la Tony Coton letting in seven goals against Portuguesa and a demotion to the reserves for a whole season.

The experience seems to have strengthened the gentle giant and he remained unflappable even in what appeared desperate situations. He debuted with Brazil in 1953 against Bolivia and continued almost unchallenged until 1969. His reflexes and confidence led in no small measure to the defeat of Spain in the group stages in the Chilean World Cup and allowed Brazil to progress to the quarter finals and eventual success. In the previous tournament his presence in goal was a key contributor to several clean sheets and Brazil's initial World Cup victory. In the famous photograph taken on the 28th of June 1958 in the Rasunda Stadium Pele still a youngster cries on Gilmar's shoulder after their triumph.

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He remains the only goalkeeper to have won successive World Cups and with Iker Casillas out of favour at present domestically may remain the only one to do so for a very long time to come.

1966 remains a blot on many Brazilian players careers and Gilmar was no exception being made a scapegoat for the beating inflicted by the Hungarians leading to an exclusion from the loss against Portugual by an irate Feola.

His list of honours is rather long winning everything on offer in the dominant Santos team of the early sixties including State and national championships and two Libertadores titles in 1962 and 1963 and subsequently humbling the best of the European sides at the time in Benfica and AC Milan in the club world championship.

After retiring in 1969 and despite all of the medals and cups he too faded into obscurity and had to enter the world of work as a car dealer. His last years were sadly blighted by ill health, but he remains without doubt Brazil's number one. Gilmar's thoughts on his own role are very pertinent.

“The goalkeeper is the team’s solo star, an artist all on his own. He dances to a different tune.
He has to jump and then stand around doing nothing, things that no one else has to do.
He has more responsibility than the forwards, because it’s there that the game is won and lost.
And at the end of the day everyone’s always got a shoulder to cry on, everyone, that is, except the goalkeeper.”

[video=youtube;B47b-1j_jFw]http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=B47b-1j_jFw[/video]​

 

Bill Foulkes - 1932-2013


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So another of the Busby Babes passes away leaving just Harry Gregg and Bobby Charlton. Players of this era were inseparable from the ordinary man in the street and experienced life on the coal face in Bill's case almost literally. In several books covering the period there are descriptions of him coming to training covered in coal dust.

He was of rugby league stock as befits an upbringing in St.Helens and tough as the proverbial nails but a genial giant off the pitch. An almighty commanding presence in the air forwards were scared of coming into the reach of his long legs that covered the ground with ease. What is shocking is the award of just a solitary England cap for such a commanding centreback.

His toughness as a character helped him through the Munich tragedy which saw many of his younger team mates perish and his own participation in the rescue which left an indelible scar on all the survivors though some of their subsequent treatment such as Jacky Blanchflower leaves a black stain on the reputation of the club. A mere two weeks after the disaster he was back captaining the side in the league and times were so very different them supporters of clubs up and down the land showered their sympathy on the Old Trafford club who had been standard bearers for British clubs in Europe.

A stay at home defender whose maxim of utter commitment to defending his area would be a useful lesson for some of the modern day counterparts his goal against Real Madrid in the European Cup semifinal in 1968 which led to an aggregate win and ultimate success with the mercurial genius of George Best flashing brightly against the might of Benfica.

[video=youtube;zXImi89BLiI]http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=zXImi89BLiI[/video]​

What is sad is the genuine bemusement of many of the newer fans at Manchester United who are barely aware of the stature of such players such is the ignorance of their own club's history and more so when the player in question is fourth on the all time appearance list for them.

Alzheimer's comes to many in old age a disease which Bill bore well but one has to question the preponderance of older footballers who have suffered such neurodegenerative disease compared to the general population.

 

Eusebio da Silva Ferreira - 1942-2014

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What sad news in a World Cup year not to see the friendly benign face of the great Eusebio looking down from the stands on the stage he graced for many years.

Born in Mozambique it was a Hungarian exponent Bela Guttmann of the 4-2-4 that had seen the Magyars achieve great success in the 1950's that brought the young Eusebio to Portugual and Benfica on the recommendation of former Brazilian international Jose Bauer of Sao Paulo.

Sao Paulo also turned down the chance to sign Eusebio who at the time was playing with a nursery club for Sporting Lisbon.Their fans continue to regret what might have been had he turned out in the green and white of the club as well might the fans of Juventus who also turned down the opportunity to sign the youngster.

Rapidly nicknamed the Black Pearl he formed a formidable partnership with the great Mario Coluna playing behind the prolific Jose Aguas. He scored twice in the 1962 European Cup final against the might of Real Madrid and appeared in the finals of 1963 where he scored,1965 and 1968 where a spectacular Alex Stepney save denied him from winning the game before the extra time saw George Best win the cup for Manchester United.

Incredibly hard to knock off the ball despite his small stature he like Maradona had incredibly powerful thighs and a low centre of gravity. He could accelerate away from opposing defenders with ease and allied to superlative ball control was an eye for goal and a hammer of a right foot which saw him net 319 goals in 313 games for Benfica and as befits the title of O Rei (The King) 41 in 64 games for Portugual.

In the process alongside Coluna he helped Benfica win 10 league titles, 5 cups while on a personal level he was the golden boot in the Portuguese league six times and twice in Europe in 1968 & 1973.

Without doubt one of the finest players in Europe in the sixties he deservedly was made European Player of the Year in 1965 and it was on him and Coluna that hopes were pinned for a World Cup triumph in 1966.

Eusebio was Golden Boot in England and in the group game against Brazil scored twice to send the defending champions home.

One of the great matches in World Cup history played at Goodison saw the Portuguese come back from a 3-0 deficit against the North Koreans to win 5-3 with Eusebio scoring four. Portugual were extremely unlucky in the semifinal against England which saw Bobby Charlton and Eusebio involved in an enthralling duel. The match entailed controversy when the game was switched from Goodison at the last moment to Wembley forcing the Portuguese to travel down at the last minute.

Despite the loss Jogo das Lagrimas (The Game of Tears in reference to Eusebio's tears at the end of the match) a win over the Soviet Union in the third/fourth place playoff secured Portugual's best ever finish at a World Cup.

In that game as against England Eusebio scored a penalty against the great Lev Yashin and showed as against Gordon Banks his incredible sportsmanship saluting both keepers after scoring.

Despite being called to the World Cup qualifiers in 1970 & 1974 Eusebio never graced the world stage again but his performances in 1966 ensured that he remains one of the great players in the tournament's history.Like several leading players of the time lured by the challenge and riches of the NASL Eusebio played out his final years in the USA and latterly Mexico before a knee injury in 1974 brought down the curtain on his illustrious career.

His later years saw ill health and heart problems plague him and ultimately rob him of seeing his beloved Navigators one more time try to surpass his efforts. He will also be remembered for bringing to prominence at a time when African football was regarded as a joke along with Mario Coluna the potential for the game within Africa.

[video=youtube;xO3ZBMVh1l4]http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=xO3ZBMVh1l4[/video]​

 

Sir Tom Finney

A legend of the past (some time before most of us) passed away at 91.

A proper winger I understand - beat his man and got the ball in into the box/net.

 

Tom Finney - 1922-2014


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A player who would get into an all time England XI without any shadow of doubt although where he might play would be another question entirely.

Although a spritely left footed winger the Preston Plumber as he was nicknamed could play either flank often cutting in off the right flank a la Messi and a worthy comparison for a player who could find a pass and left many an opposition fullback bamboozled and on the floor by his dips of the shoulder or swivel of the hips.

A prolific scorer for a winger although he could play despite his relatively small size in a far more physical era as a centre forward he embodies qualities which seem to have disappeared from the modern game which makes his passing more poignant. These included his unfailingly sportsmanlike conduct and great humility.

Born next to Deepdale he followed his father into the plumbing business and despite the offer of riches from Italy post war (serving in the Army in the rather flimsy Stuart medium tank) remained a one club man.

Quotes from a couple of contemporaries serve to illustrate his greatness that the passage of time may have diminished:
The greatest player to ever play the game - Bill Shankly.

To dictate the pace and course of a game, a player has to be blessed with awesome qualities. Those who have accomplished it on a regular basis can be counted on the fingers of one hand - Pele, Maradona, Best, Di Stefano, and Tom Finney - Stanley Matthews.

A wonderful player and ambassador for the game, England and his beloved Preston North End.

[video=youtube;TG7xgwgimmw]http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=TG7xgwgimmw[/video]

http://www.theguardian.com/football/2014/feb/14/tom-finney-preston-obituary​

 

Richard Moller Nielsen - 1937-2014



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Sad news certainly for Danish football fans is the demise of Richard Moller Nielsen the coach of the Danish side that won the 1992 European Championship and the 1995 Confederations Cup beating Argentina.

After a dismal Euro'96 he hung up his coaching board but he will forever remain in the folklore of Danish football. Like many gifted coaches an injury ended his career early and he pottered about with some success as a club coach within Denmark. Like many things in life a series of coincidences led to that famous triumph. Some cheerful others not so.

The first was the inability of the Danish FA to get Horst Wohlers in as coach the second the unfortunate outbreak of war in the Balkans which led Yugoslavia to withdraw from the 1992 event. Denmark who had finished second in the group in qualification were summoned from their holidays and they seemed in holiday mood as they drew against England before losing to the hosts and fierce rivals Sweden.

Then came a hat trick of amazing results against the cream of Europe. A win over France led to a penalty shoot out win over joint favourites Holland. Before on the 26th June 1992 at the Ullevi Stadion in Gothenburg a shock 2-0 win over the German juggernaut including that most rare of sightings a goal from John Jensen sparking huge celebrations all over Denmark. And all this without one of my favourite players of all time Michael Laudrup.

[video=youtube;CpncYhTQcb0]http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=CpncYhTQcb0[/video]​

 

Alfredo di Stefano (1926-2014)

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Words cannot describe the greatness of La Saeta Rubia the blonde arrow What his contemporaries said about him and the black and white figures in the record books, the indelible memories he left in all who saw him are all the testament that is required. Suffice to say he had the defensive capability of a Beckenbauer, the passing of a Messi and the striking qualities of a Ronaldo.

As a young boy he was impressed by the footballers of the first Argentine golden such as the legendary Boca striker Francisco Varallo and the talents of Carlos Peucelle at rivals River Plate whom he would watch every other week.

When Jose Minella took over the management of River Plate he created the first total football in the form of La Maquina where players rotated position with the emphasis on passing and movement off the ball with technique.The team was headlined by five legendary players Jose Moreno, Juan Munoz, Felix Loustau, Angel Labruna and a great influence on di Stefano, Adolfo Pedernera. di Stefano whose talents had been noticed in the streets thus entered one of the great academies of the game at at time when he could learn from the best players on the planet at the time.

All five of the Maquina line although they rarely played together are revered in Argentina and would be household names worldwide had there been World Cups in 1942 and 1946. di Stefano was coached to play anywhere on the pitch as required by the manager, equally comfortable as centreback as playing in the centre forward role and even once as goalkeeper in the Superclasico.

Due to the incompetence of the AFA di Stefano only played six times for Argentina winning the 1947 Copa America including a hat trick against the country he came to represent Colombia. Frustrated by low pay and other demands not being met many of the top Argentine players led by Pedernera went to Colombia with di Stefano in tow. Faced by the player exodus, the AFA refused to defend their Copa title in Brazil in 1949 and did not travel there either for the 1950 World Cup something which still rankles in Brazil today as a snub.

At the time of the arrival of di Stefano in Bogota,a dispute in the newly formed Colombian league meant that FIFA refused to recognize Colombia as a member.It however allowed Millionarios with the other Colombian clubs to sign players from all across South America for nothing making up for it in wages and creating a league populated with South America's best.

It was here while on a tour Real Madrid first saw di Stefano. What happened afterwards is still a matter of dispute and bitterness between the Spanish old Firm with Barcelona feeling they had agreed a transfer with di Stefano's parent club River Plate before being trumped by an agreement between Millionarios and Real Madrid.

A compromise was agreed between the two clubs that the blonde arrow should play two seasons for each club but the announcment caused even more of a furore and in the end it is supposed Franco's minions also played a part in di Stefano remaining at Real Madrid. After the Munich air disaster he was set to join Manchester United on loan to help the club rebuild but the FA in their usual idiotic backward way blocked the move.

With five European Cups, 216 goals in 282 games for Real and a ratio of .84 goals per game in the European Cup as opposed to Messi at .78 a born winner, a father figure and leader of a team that included other greats like Puskas, Gento, the Uruguayan Santamaria hewill always be revered at Los Blancos as the founder of the clubs greatness.

After retiring from the pitch the great man moved into management instilling his love of artistic football mixed with physicality.As a manager at the club he only managed a couple of runner up spots but nurtured a generation of talents that formed the core of the Spanish side at the 1986 World Cup.

Elsewhere he had success in winning titles with both Boca and River and with Valencia in Spain. He will forever remain immortalized as one of the foundations of Real Madrid as a club participating with zest until recent years as the honorary president,as one of the last great products of La Maquina and one of the greatest of all Argentine players perhaps the only one to challenge Maradona for his status.

A legendary triumvirate:

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Despite never having played at a World Cup (he took Spain to qualification in 1962 before being ruled out by injury) it would only be fitting that one of the greatest of all players is remembered before the Argentina-Holland semifinal.

[video=youtube;b8-Vem_3BhI]https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=b8-Vem_3BhI[/video]​